First Time
by TheLostMaximoff
Summary: A look at some of the magical moments in Elle's life that made her who she is today.


First Time

By TheLostMaximoff

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. R/R.

Elle can usually smell breakfast when she wakes up. Mommy always makes sure to have breakfast ready for her daughter. Lately though, Mommy has been acting different. She and Daddy fight about . . . grownup stuff. Elle is only six but she knows she is somehow to blame for the fights. Mommy and Daddy mostly argue about what happened at Grandma's house. Elle doesn't like to think about the fire. It was an accident. She feels terrible about it, really she does. It was just an accident.

Elle gets out of bed and heads into the kitchen. Daddy is sitting at the table but no one else is around. Elle thinks this is strange because Daddy is always gone by the time she gets up. He looks at her with sad eyes and Elle wonders what exactly is wrong.

"Where's Mommy?" asks Elle as she climbs into the chair next to her father. Daddy refuses to say anything. Elle notices there is a piece of paper in his hands that he can't stop staring at.

"She's gone, Ellie," says Daddy sadly.

"When's she coming back?" asks Elle innocently, "I'm hungry and she has to make breakfast."

"She isn't coming back," explains Daddy. Elle's six-year-old brain doesn't understand this. Why would her mother just leave and never come back? Elle thought Mommy and Daddy loved each other. You don't leave someone you love. You just don't.

"Where is she?" asks Elle in an urgent tone.

"I don't know," answers Daddy.

"Make her come back!" orders Elle, "Daddy, make her come back!"

"I can't," says Daddy as he puts his head in his hands, "She's gone, Ellie. She's gone forever." They both sit at the table and cry. Today is Elle's first day without a mother.

XXXXX

Elle stares at the building and begins to cling to her father. She is seven now and Daddy wants her to be a big girl. He told her they were going to stay here for a while. His friends want to help Elle with . . . being special. Elle doesn't like Daddy's friends. They do boring, grown-up things and talk about boring, grown-up stuff. Elle hopes there are other kids inside the tall, scary building. Being with Daddy is nice but it gets so lonely.

"Elle, behave for Daddy's friends," warns her father as Elle sees someone come to greet them. Elle thinks the man looks funny but he seems nice and smiles at her.

"Hi," says the man as he looks down at Elle, "I don't think we've met before. My name is Noah." Elle looks away and buries her face in Daddy's leg.

"Elle," warns Daddy sternly, "What did I just say?"

"It's fine," assures Noah, "She's probably nervous. You're sure about doing this?"

"It's just observation," reminds Daddy, "C'mon, Ellie, let's go inside and see who else is around. We have to show lots of important people what you can do."

"It's scary," murmurs Elle, "I don't like that place."

"Elle," says Daddy as he pats her head, "You have to trust me, okay? I promise nothing will hurt you."

"Okay," says Elle. She follows Daddy and Noah inside. She remembers this as the first time she ever saw Noah Bennet. Ironically, he was _not_ wearing horn-rimmed glasses at the time. However, were Elle to remember her past a little more clearly she would be able to realize that this was also the first time her father had blatantly lied to her face about something.

XXXXX

"You need to read this." Elle keeps her eyes on the TV screen but she almost screams when her father drops the book into her lap. She seems to have done something to offend her body and now the retaliation is occurring. The cramps started the day before yesterday and getting a book dropped into her lap causes even more pain. Elle refuses to believe she is sick. The cramps are occurring in a place slightly lower than her stomach.

"What is it?" asks Elle as she looks at the book warily. She is thirteen now and she is going through "a phase" as Bob so quaintly puts it.

"It'll help you understand what's going on with your body," explains Bob, "I noticed the blood in the shower this morning, Elle." Elle rolls her eyes and flips through the book. It has a lot of pictures in it of naked people. Elle studies the section on menstruation and "the development from girl to woman". She deems it gross and tosses the book away. Elle is a tough girl. She can handle pain.

"Read it," says Bob, "Ask me questions if you have any." He leaves Elle to her TV and her new book. Elle picks it up as if it's some disgusting piece of slime and flips through it again. She reads the section on "the male sex organ" and how it interacts with "the female sex organ". Elle tries not to laugh at the terms. The TV already tells her all she needs to know about sex and how it works. She definitely doesn't need a book about that. Elle tosses the book aside and goes back to her TV. It is the first, and possibly only, time she and her father have a conversation about sex.

XXXXX

Elle hears the word come out of the doctor's mouth and she starts to lose control. How dare he call her a bitch. How dare he. She is fifteen years old and she knows enough to hate being called that, especially to her face. It makes her seethe with rage that he can get away with something like that.

"Never call me that again," warns Elle dangerously.

"I'll call you whatever I damn well please," retorts the doctor, "I said it before and I'll say it again. You're a crazy bitch." Elle cannot decide which word she hates more but she feels the anger course through her veins. The doctor is a transfer, some hotshot from somewhere special. He thinks he knows her so well. He doesn't know a damn thing.

"Say it again," dares Elle, "Say it again and see what happens."

"Crazy bitch," repeats the doctor with a leer. Elle's vision is lost in a world of blue as she lets the lightning loose. The air is alive with pops and crackles as she watches the doctor hit the floor, his limbs spastically flailing in a dance Elle has seen before. No one calls her a "crazy bitch". No one. She decides to make an example of this one so she can show them all why they should be nice to her from now on. Elle sniffs the air and smells the crisp odor of burning flesh as she watches the doctor shake, quiver, and convulse while she pours more lightning into him. She is sick of his snotty attitude and his sexual advances towards her. She is sick of him looking at her like an animal he wants to stuff and mount on his wall. She is the predator now and he is the unfortunate, hapless prey. She is the one in control. She giggles in delight as she leaves the man's body a burnt husk of lifeless ash and power. It is the first time she has knowingly murdered someone and it feels absolutely wonderful.

XXXXX

Elle decides that Adam has done this before. She quivers and whimpers as his lips trail over inch after inch of her naked flesh. She feels his teeth sink hungrily into her skin and she groans from pain and pleasure. She feels him between her thighs and tenses at the pain as he makes her a woman. Their hips start moving hard and fast. Adam is a starving man and Elle is his banquet. She screams his name over and over again as she lets herself go. Her world turns to blue and the smell of burnt flesh fills the room as she climaxes repeatedly. Adam mumbles something unintelligible and Elle doubts it's her name but she decides not to press it. She shivers as she feels the tingly, little fireflies in her tummy send shocks of pleasure and fulfillment through her body.

"Well, that was new," says Adam with a grin as his charred flesh begins to heal, "Not very often I can say that." Elle smiles at him and feels satisfied for the first time in her life. Unfortunately, that feeling fades by the end of the week. Elle thinks she and Adam will talk about what happened between them but they never do. It becomes obvious that her "first time" wasn't the magical night of eternal love she wants it to be. She still wonders whose name Adam called out that night. She knows it definitely wasn't hers.

XXXXX

"I'm starting to like it. I'm starting to like you." Elle can't help but smile as she sits on Peter Petrelli's bed and holds up her hand. She has waited seemingly forever for this day. She always wears her nicest clothes, applies her favorite lip-gloss, and styles her hair just right all in an effort to ensnare him. She is so pleased with herself for getting to this point that she goes into total shock when Peter kisses her. His mouth is warm and soft, nothing at all like Adam's which was rough and hungry. Elle feels tingly jolts run up her spine as she kisses Peter back and lets his tongue into her mouth. She can taste her own lip-gloss and the strawberry only intoxicates her further. She feels Peter pull away and gives him his jolt. She wants to give him so much more but she will tease him just for now. Elle giggles at Peter's face as he takes the shock. She decides in that moment that Peter is now her first kiss. That thing with Adam will always be her "first time" but it wasn't as wonderfully romantic as this moment with Peter. Elle decides that while Adam was the first to have her body, Peter is the first to claim her heart.

XXXXX

The saltwater stings her eyes as Elle begins to cry. She buries her face in the pillow to try and remember what Peter smells like because he is gone now and probably never coming back. Elle cannot decide if she should be angry at him or angry at herself. Maybe she did something wrong and drove him away just like she did with her mother. It isn't the first time she has screwed up something good in her life. Maybe Peter never loved her at all. Maybe Peter just used her. It isn't the first time Elle has been used by someone she cares about.

"Stupid!" snarls Elle into the pillow, "Stupid, little girl!" She sobs into it and tries so hard not to let this get to her. It isn't the first time she has been disappointed by life. It isn't the first time she has been lied to or manipulated. It isn't the first time she's felt so helpless. It is, however, the first time someone she trusted broke her heart into a million tiny pieces. Elle sobs into Peter's pillow as she feels an ache in her that she has never felt before. It is the first time Elle has been dumped and she really, really hopes it's also the last.


End file.
